I have just found out about the proposed patent policy,
http://www.w3.org/TR/2001/WD-patent-policy-20010816/
I oppose it utterly. A standard which is not free for use by anyone is
not a standard, it is merely a commonly-used proprietary interface. A
policy which allows a patent holder to remain silent about a patent,
write it into a standard, and then reap the benefits in the form of
"Reasonable and Non-Discriminatory" -- but high -- license fees will
utterly destroy both the open Web, and whatever credibility the W3C ever
had as a standard-making body.
The correct response to the sudden revelation of a patent by a
participant in the standard-making process should be the automatic
_royalty-free_ licensing of that patent for any purpose relating to the
implementation and use of the standard.
As for my qualifications, I am a computer-science researcher at Ricoh
Innovations, Inc., and the holder of five software-related patents. I
am also an open-source software developer and an author (of web pages,
among other things).
--
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